Stars, Stripes, and Lightning Bolts
by SadxEyes
Summary: A witch in her fifth year transfers to Hogwarts, along with her two sisters. A certain Document founded by the young witch may provide an uproar for the magic world and life as they know it...
1. New Beginnings

Galleria  
  
She was bored. Life in Simpleton, Montana wasn't exacty what she'd consider a thrill ride. Sure it was nice enough, but not enough for her. It was a typical small town with well-manicured lawns, nice, well-tended gardens, and neat, well-kept houses lined up in perfectly straight rows on each of their little mirrored streets. There was a tiny mall with a few stores, a Dollar General, and a refreshment stand; there was also a little general store, a gas station, and a muddy lake on the outside edge of the town. It was boring. There wasn't anywhere she could go for fun and a little bit of adventure.  
  
Leave it to Muggles to come up with a town like this, she thought with a rare smile touching her usually very carefully kept blank face.  
  
As she lay on her bed in her tiny little bedroom, her thoughts turned towards Nouveau Monde. It meant "new world" in French, and it seemed exactly that. When the fall term started-and it wasn't all that far away-she'd be far away from this tiny, utterly unimaginative town and back at the place she loved. School.  
  
She smiled dispite herself.  
  
Nouveau Monde was located in a lush valley deep in the Rockies. Surrounded by towering, snow-capped mountains, they were pretty much isolated away from the rest of the non-magical world. The school itself was built into the side of the mountains, making it impossible for Muggles to find it if they just so happened to stumble upon it. That was if they managed to get past all of the magical barriers that surrounded the school's property. If they managed that, then they simply see a crumbling old mountainside.  
  
The grounds themselves were dotted with Mountain Laurel's, Oak, Redwood, and Fir trees. The grass was crsip and springy, a rich, satiny green color. And the air! Oh the air was absolutely wonderful! So cool, clean, and utterly untouched by pollution.  
  
Yes, she thought, I can't wait.  
  
Closing her unusual violet eyes, she sighed with pleasure at a gust of cool air wafting in through her open windows as she basked in the thought of Nouveau Monde.  
  
"Galleria!"  
  
Galleria's eyes opened slowly to see her eldest sister, Lanai, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her plain face.  
  
"What?" she asked in a bored, monotone voice.  
  
Tucking a lock of her long, rich brown hair behind her left ear, she shook her head. "Daydreaming again, eh Galleria?" She wrinkled up her nose. "Now come on. Mother and Father want us in the living room. Apparently it's something important."  
  
Galleria watched her sister turn and saunter out of the room in a confident way that only Lanai could pull off. Rolling over, she lazily climbed out of her bed and made her way into the living room where the rest of her family was waiting for her.  
  
*********************  
  
"What?" Galleria shrieked, jumping up from the squashy armchair she was sitting in. "But Mum, London is so far away!"  
  
"Now Galleria," her mother said slowly. "It's not really all that far away and-"  
  
"Not that far away!" Galleria screamed. "Mum, it's 8,000 miles away from here!"  
  
"-and I think it would be good for you and your sisters," her mother finished, seemingly unperturbed by her middle daughter's tone of voice.  
  
"Good for me?" She echoed incredulously. "What would be good for me is to stay here and finish school at Nouveau Monde. I'm not the only one this is affecting either. What about Lanai? She's going into her last year come September. And Parrish!" She said, referring to her youngest sister who had been quiet throughout the entire conversation. "Parrish loves it here! We all do. What if we hate it there?"  
  
"Tammy," their father interjected quietly. "Perhaps we were a bit hasty in our decision."  
  
Mrs. Summers shot her husband a sharp look. "Paul, what on earth do you mean?" She said, her English accent becoming more and more pronounced with each word spoken. "I think it was perfectly reasonable. After all. I grew up there and I loved it. I'm sure the girls will too."  
  
"Mum, we grew up here-"  
  
"Parrish, you keep quiet!" Mrs. Summers said, staring her youngest daughter in the eyes.  
  
Tucking her legs beneath her, Parrish averted her eyes to the large bay windows in the living room and bit her bottom lip. That was something she did when she got nervous. Her mother made her nervous a lot. Seeing the look on Parrish's face, Lanai spoke up. "Mother, Father, maybe you just haven't given yourselves enough time to think. You should give it a while longer."  
  
"Lanai is right, dear." Mr. Summers said, but a piercing glare from Mrs. Summers silenced him.  
  
"We're going and that's all there is to it." She set her jaw in a way that said if you messed with her you' die a horrible death. "We leave in five days. Better get packing. Off you go now, go on!"  
  
"But Mum-"  
  
"Now!" Mrs. Summers said in a final voice.  
  
Galleria, Lanai, and Parrish hurried off to their own rooms to begin packing while Mrs. Summers shouted after them, "And by the way, it's not London we're moving to. It's Ottery St. Catchpole!"  
  
I'm going to hate this, Galleria thought. I'm going toto be miserable. 


	2. Ottery St Catchpole

Parrish stared out of the window in her new room that she stared with Galleria and sighed. Ottery St. Catchpole was everything she had expected it to be. It was tiny and remote, built mostly on country backroads. The houses were spread far and wide inbetween; they were old and somewhat run down, but still liveable. London, however, was a whole other story. It was vibrant and teeming with lively locals and tourists. British meshed with American, French, and Spanish accents, leacing a colorful variation in tones. Bright coloured mopeds zipped in and out of traffic, making their way towards their daily destinations. Bad pop music blared out of open windows. All things modern meshed with the old architecture. Everything combined made London a very fascinating place indeed.  
  
It was pouring outside leaving them stranded inside with nothing to do. It had been raining ever since the day they arrived. They had yet to get out and see what that miniscule town had to offer. ("Everything about this place just screams, 'the Flintstone's return.'" Lanai had stated languidly the day of their arrival.) Parrish wasn't at all impressed by the tiny town.  
  
"It doesn't look any different than Simpleton, except that it's a bit greener and the trees are bigger," she said to Galleria.  
  
For that remark, Galleria grunted her agreement. "Exactly what I was thinking. I dunno why Mum decided to move us here. It's just like living in Simpleton, only we're in England and we're going to go to a different school."  
  
Parrish gave her sister a look that was somewhat remiscent of Mrs. Summers. "Don't you say that about Mum! We wouldn't have come if Dad hadn't wanted to come to."  
  
Galleria rolled her eyes. "Right."  
  
"You want to know something, Galleria?" Parrish said, hopping off of the window seat she was sitting on and walked slowly towards her older sister. "If you didn't look so much different than Lanai, then I'd swear you were the same person sometimes."  
  
Galleria shot up in her bed, pointing a finger at Parrish. "Don't you EVER! I'm nothing like her, nothing! Do you hear me?"  
  
Parrish shrugged. "Maybe you're right. Lanai seems to be taking the move rather well, if I do say so myself. That's more than I can say for you...."  
  
"Let me tell you something Parrish Jeanne Summers, you have no clue- absolutely no clue-how I'm taking this move. Don't be the snot-nosed twerp we all know you are for once, and leave me alone." Galleria said fiercly.  
  
"Just because you're wigged out about this whole move doesn't mean you can take it out on me anytime you damn well please," Parrish shot back, a little hurt at her sisters words. She flicked out the light. Pulling the covers back from her bed and sliding underneath them, she said, "Get some sleep. Mum's taking us to some place called Diagon Alley tomorrow to get our school supplies."  
  
Galleria lie awake a long time after Parrish had fallen asleep thinking about what had been said a few minutes previous. Was Parrish right? Was she being immature? No, of course not. Rolling over, she fell into a light sleep.  
  
*********************  
  
(Next Day, Diagon Alley)  
  
Draco Malfoy pushed a piece of his white blonde hair back from his face and looked around. Spotting someone he knew, he squared his shoulders and braced himself for a boring, totally useless conversation.  
  
Time to make nice.  
  
He crossed the street and walked over to Pansy Parkinson. "Hello, Pansy."  
  
Pansy turned to look at Draco, her pug-like face breaking into a smile at the site of him. "There you are! I was just looking for you. I knew you said that you'd be here today, and I was hoping we could spend a little time together." A sly smile had taken the place of the earlier smile.  
  
Draco grimaced.  
  
"Sorry Pansy, I have other plans, but I'm sure you'll be able to find someone who'll fill your needs....for a price."  
  
He grinned rather nastily and walked off, sniggering at Pansy's frustrated mutterings. He shook his head. "Pathetic."  
  
He glanced around to make sure no one else was out and about. When he was satisfied that no one was going to stop him anytime soon, he sat down at an empty table outside of Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor and pulled out a battered copy of "Quidditch Through the Ages." A fewminutes later the book was knocked out of Draco's hand when a lost-looking someone tripped over his chair.  
  
The lost-looking someone happened to be a young girl about Draco's age. The girl had long black hair that reached her lower back and was currently splayed out over a rather large pile of books. She was pale of skin and slight in build. She let out a heavy sigh of embarrassment and clucked her tongue. "Wait to go Summers," she said quietly.  
  
'Who the hell was this Summers person?' Draco rolled his eyes. 'Think man, think.'  
  
He started to bend down to help the girl up, but then straightened. No one would expect him to help the girl. Insult her, yes. Laugh at her, definately. Help her, no. He cleared his throat. "Do y'think you're going to be able to stand up anytime soon, or are you going to lie around on the ground all day and talk to yourself like a madwoman?"  
  
The girl jumped a little and pushed herself onto her knees and started gathering her things. She stood and looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had committed some sort of crime simply by lying here and having a nice little chat with myself."  
  
Her eyes startled him. They were a mesmerizing shade of violet and had little flecks of silver in the iris's. It was really quite unnerving how they had him transfixed.  
  
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" She whispered in an amused tone of voice, breaking him out of his state.  
  
He shook his head. "I was just wondering what someone like yourself would be doing in Diagon Alley."  
  
He surveyed her muggle style clothing in distaste. She was wearing a tiny red tank top and low-cut jeans with a pair of flip-flops to complete the outfit. Her hair was currently in the process of being swept back into a large red velvet hair scrunchy. She was a muggle if he ever saw one. "I mean, they're surely still not allowing mudbloods at Hogwarts, are they?" he sneered.  
  
The girl shrugged, unfased by his insult. "I don't know. I'll inform you if I meet any."  
  
Draco stared at the girl in silent disbelief. 'She can't be pureblood...maybe she's a halfblood?'  
  
The girl shook her head, fanning her restrained hair behind her. She tilted her head a bit and studied Draco intently. "Do you go to Hogwarts?"  
  
Draco narrowed his eyes and met her intent gaze head on. She didn't seem to have any hidden meanings behind what she was asking, but you could never be too sure these days. "Maybe."  
  
She nodded as if his answer confirmed everything. "Well, if all the boys there are as cute as you are, then I think I'm going to like it here after all."  
  
A sly grin took the splace of Draco's scowl. This is exactly the type of stuff he knew how to handle. He opened his mouth to respond, when a shout cut him off.  
  
"Galleria!"  
  
The girl turned her head towards a short woman at the end of the street. "Coming, Mum!" She turned back to Draco. "Well, I'm off to get my robes. It was nice talking to you...."  
  
"Draco," he supplied.  
  
"Draco," she finished. She bent down and grabbed the small, battered book next to her feet and handed it to him. "I believe this is yours. I'll see you around at school sometime."  
  
With that, she turned and left Draco standing there staring after her. 


	3. Diagon Alley

Galleria ran to catch up with her mother and sisters. They were standing outside Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, waiting for her impatiently. "Who was that boy you were talking to?" Parrish asked, looking over at the area where Draco still stood.  
  
"What boy?" Galleria asked.  
  
"Him." Parrish said, pointing over to the tables outside next to the ice cream parlor.  
  
"Ohh, that boy. Just some boy who goes to Hogwarts."  
  
"Well I hope I'm in some of his classes. He's cute." Parrish said with a small smile.  
  
Galleria raised an eyebrow. "Oh he is, is he? I hadn't noticed."  
  
"Yes, well, I think we ought to get your robes." Mrs. Summers said. "Come on now," she said, ushering them inside the shop.  
  
"Hogwarts?" A squat, smiling witch dressed in light purple robes asked, emerging from the back.  
  
Mrs. Summers nodded. "Is there any difference in uniforms for the different years? Because, if there is, my daughters will be needing a uniform for the seventh, the fifth, and the fourth years."  
  
Madam Malkin laughed jovially. "No, no. There's no difference at all in the uniforms. All Hogwarts students wear solid black robes."  
  
"Solid black?" Mrs. Summers questioned. "Oh dear."  
  
"Is there some sort of problem?" Madam Malkin queried, looking back and forth between Mrs. Summers and her daughters expectantly.  
  
Galleria looked at her mother and suppressed a sigh. Her mother hated the color black. It depressed her very much, and reminded her of an endless pit of darkness. She had a small qualm about the children or her husband wearing large amounts of it, or large amounts appearing around the house. "It's fine," she spoke up. "It's fine. Mum doesn't much like the color, but she'll have to learn to live with it. Won't you, mum?" Galleria questioned, giving Mrs. Summers a small pleading look.  
  
"Yes, yes I supposed I will." Mrs. Summers said, lifting her head a little bit.  
  
"Good," Madam Malkin said. "Now if you'll come right this way, dears." She ushered them toward several small footstools in the back of the shop.  
  
Galleria stood on the stool closest to the wall and braced herself for an eternity of standing. That's how it was when they went to get their robes for Nouveau Monde, anyhow. Madam LeVelle was a tired old witch with arthritis in both hands. She must have been in her nineties or pretty close to a hundred years old. Madam Malkin looked like she was only in her early fifties.  
  
That could be a good thing. Galleria thought.  
  
She looked over at Parrish, who was standing next to her, and Lanai, who was next to Parrish, and she could tell they were thinking the same thing she was. Grinning, she looked forward and let Madam Malkin finish hemming her robes. "All done, dear." Madam Malkin said, standing and brushing her hands off.  
  
Galleria hopped down from the stool and slipped the robe over her head. A few seconds later, Parrish and Lanai joined her, a second and third witch having hemmed their robes for them. They walked over to their mother who was standing in the front of the shop facing the door. "Mother," Lanai said, coming up behind her. "We're done now."  
  
"Oh, good!" Mrs. Summers exclaimed, turning around quickly. "Let's go then, I've already paid for your robes. What do you say we grab some ice cream and have a sit down?"  
  
"Sounds great!" Parrish exclaimed, grinning. She looked at Galleria, who appeared to not have heard anything, and then to Lanai, who merely shrugged indifferently.  
  
"Alright then, lets go!" Mrs. Summers said, leading the way over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.  
  
**********************  
  
Mayalyn Roman started across the way towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, but stopped rather abruptly when she saw Draco Malfoy standing there staring over at Madam Malkin's shop looking like he had been stunned. Her round brown eyes glanced over in the direction Draco was looking and widened a fraction of a centimeter. Malfoy was staring a girl. Not just any girl either. She appeared to be a muggle. Smiling broadly, she walked over to the girl and her companions. They were apparently heading over towards the ice cream parlor.  
  
"Hi, I'm Mayalyn Roman. You are.?" Mayalyn asked, holding her hand out to the girl.  
  
The girl looked at one of the girls she was with questioningly. The other girl nodded and the girl Draco had been staring at shook her hand. "I'm Galleria Summers. This is my sister Parrish," she pointed towards a young girl around the same height as Galleria. She had black hair that fell in soft waves about her shoulders, and warm blue eyes that seemed to dance in the afternoon sun. "This is my sister Lanai." This time she pointed to a tall girl on her right. This girl also had the characteristic black hair of the bunch and it fell in inky folds over her stiffly straight back. She also had blue eyes, but they held none of the warmth and merriment of her sister's eyes. Hers were cold, icy, remote. "And this is my mum."  
  
The dark haired lady behind the girls nodded to her. "How do you do?"  
  
Mayalyn smiled politely at Mrs. Summers. "So," she said, turning back to Galleria. "Are you in Gryffindor? I haven't seen you around before. What year are you in?"  
  
Galleria stared at her with a confused look in her almond shaped violet eyes. "Gryffindor?"  
  
"Ohh.you must be in one of the other houses then." Mayalyn said, not realizing that Galleria was completely new to Hogwarts. "What house are you in?"  
  
"House?" Again, the same confused violet eyes stared at her. She turned to Parrish. "What houses is she talking about?"  
  
Parrish shrugged and turned her pretty blue eyes to Mayalyn. "We're new here."  
  
"Exchange students?"  
  
Parrish nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Where from?" Mayalyn questioned, interestedly.  
  
"America," Galleria answered. "See, Mum grew up here and she was really missing it, so," she shrugged. "We moved. So, what's all this about Gryffindor and different houses?"  
  
Mayalyn raised her eyebrow a little before she realized what Galleria was talking about. "Oh, that!" She waved her hand in front of her. "That's nothing. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore--he's the Headmaster--or your Head of House will explain it all to you when you get there."  
  
Parrish and Galleria exchanged half anxious, half skeptical looks. Mayalyn couldn't help but notice that Lanai wasn't included in any of their exchanges. "Well, what if we get put into separate houses? We will still see each other, right?"  
  
Mayalyn nodded. "Of course. There's always breakfast, dinner and any other time when we aren't in class."  
  
"Let me guess, you're in Gryffindor right?" Galleria asked.  
  
"Yeah. I'm in the fifth year." Far off in the distance, someone called her name. She turned around and looked. "Well, I've got to go. Dad is calling me. It was nice talking to you. Hey, maybe you'll even be in Gryffindor!"  
  
Galleria smiled. "Nice meeting you."  
  
********************  
  
Marci Kindle sat back in the blue high backed chair in her room and sighed. For the thousandth time that week, her mother was giving her, the 'how to behave at school because we don't want to soil the family name' lecture. She started hearing this lecture around this time every year. The Kindles are the richest and oldest family of pure blood witches and wizards around. They weren't however, the most influential. The Malfoy's were. The Kindles were the second most influential. But, Marci had to behave accordingly all the same. She rolled her eyes. Ahh, the lifestyles of the rich and famous.  
  
"Marci Alexandra Kindle, sit up straight and pay attention!"  
  
Her mother's ear splitting voice cut through her self-pity party. "Sorry," she mumbled, pushing herself up in her seat.  
  
"Yes, well, I'm done with our little talk now. You can go back to whatever it is that you do during the day." Her mother said snootily, and walked out of the room.  
  
After the door slammed shut, she stood up and walked out onto her personal balcony. She leaned up against the rail and looked out at the land the Kindle family mansion sat upon. It was beautiful countryside, but she hated it. She hated her house. She hated her family and anything that had to do with them and the kind of stuff they were into.  
  
Her mother and father had served Lord Voldemort during his powerful and terror-filled regime. When Voldemort fell from power, her parents had shamelessly turned in family members and long-time friends so they wouldn't be thrown in Azkaban with the Dementors. In her opinion her family was in with the ranks of the Dementors. Soulless. One of these days, she was going to leave her family and never look back.  
  
"I can't wait until that day." Sighing, she went into the house and began to pack her trunk for school. 


	4. Hogwarts Express

"I don't know how I ever can make sense of all this mess." Marci said.  
  
She stood on Platform 9 ¾ waiting for Talon. Her long dark brown hair was done up in a thousand little tiny braids. She stood up on her tiptoes to see if she could see Talon. She couldn't see her. Her tall, ginger-haired, brown-eyed friend was nowhere to be found. "Where is she? She was supposed to be here a half an hour ago. There she is!" She spotted the ginger colored hair. "Talon, over here!"  
  
Talon's head turned in Marci's direction. When she saw Marci, she waved and rolled her eyes. Well, it was more like she stuck her hand up in the air, but it was still a wave. She made her way through the crowd and stopped in front of Marci. "What curse did you get hit with?"  
  
"Curse?" Marci repeated, confused.  
  
"Your hair," Talon said, pointing to Marci's head. "What happened to your hair, you dip shit?"  
  
Marci pulled out a tiny braid and studied it. "This? This is just a couple of little braids."  
  
Talon eyed Marci's hair with disgust. "A couple?" She picked up one of Marci's braids and dropped it quickly. "More like a zillion of these little ugly things that you think are actually stylish."  
  
Marci looked down at the ground and drug her foot across the ground to form a straight line. She hated it when people talked to her like that. Normally she wouldn't let anyone get away with talking to her like that, but Talon was her friend. Not to mention that she scared Marci shitless. But anyhow, Talon was actually a pretty cool person once you got to know her. Her friends were her life, well almost. Flying was her life. Friends came second, and family was third. Marci thanked the Lord every day that Talon had decided to make her a friend instead of an enemy. Talon wouldn't be a very good enemy to have. She knew almost as much about magic as the professors did, and knew twice as much about flying than a professional Quidditch player. The trains whistle signaling final boarding sounded and Marci looked up. "Time to get going."  
  
**************  
  
"Excuse me?" Galleria tapped a tall red-haired boy on the shoulder.  
  
The boy turned around and looked at her. "Yes?"  
  
"Umm." Galleria stalled. 'Oh gods, this is embarrassing.' "Do you know where the restrooms are?"  
  
The boy laughed and nodded. "Yeah, it's straight down the corridor at the very end of the train."  
  
Galleria looked towards the back of the train. Good, it isn't that far away. "Thank you."  
  
"Yeah sure, no problem."  
  
Galleria walked up the corridor towards the bathroom. She knocked on the door. "Hello?" No answer. "Parrish?" She waited a second before calling out again. "Lanai? Somebody?"  
  
"You know if no one answers you the first couple of times it generally means that no one's in there." Came an amused voice from behind her.  
  
Galleria turned around and saw the red-haired boy she had asked for directions to the restroom. Her cheeks burned a light pink. "I was looking for my sisters. Parrish said she'd be in the restroom; but both of them disappeared. I can't find them anywhere. I've checked nearly all of the compartments."  
  
Galleria stood there and tried to look over the tall strangers head. He looked at Galleria and furrowed his brow. "Where are you from?"  
  
"America," Galleria said hurriedly. She stood on her tiptoes, but she still couldn't see over the stranger's head.  
  
The stranger nodded. "Thought so. I'm Ron Weasley."  
  
"Galleria Summers," she said. "Do y'think you could maybe help me look for my sisters?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He paused. "What do they look like?"  
  
She told him, and then gave him a sceptical look. "Can you remember all that?"  
  
Ron nodded, not catching the sarcasm in her voice. "Let's go look for them."  
  
They made their way down the corridor, checking compartment after compartment. They skipped the fourth one away from the restroom. "Wait a second," Galleria said. "Why aren't we checking this one?"  
  
"Because that's my compartment and I just came from there. There's nobody in that compartment that matches the descriptions you gave me."  
  
"Okay," Galleria said. "Well then lets skip this next compartment too." Ron gave Galleria an odd look and she just shrugged. "It's my compartment."  
  
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but shut it quickly. His blue eyes narrowed into little slits. Galleria turned around to see the boy from the ice cream parlor. "Well, hello again Draco. I didn't expect to see you again so soon."  
  
Draco shot her a small grin. "Nor did I, Galleria." He looked at Ron. "Weasley."  
  
"Malfoy." Ron spat out contemptuously. He continued to glare at Malfoy. His expression of contempt only increased when he saw Galleria and Draco bantering back and forth. "Do you mind?" Ron spat. "We're looking for Galleria's sisters."  
  
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Why do that when they're in my compartment in the next car?"  
  
Galleria's eyes widened and her face brightened more so than it already had. "They are? Oh, thank gods! I was worried I had lost them for a second there." She looked at Ron. "Thank you for your help, Ron. I really appreciate it." She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then turned back to Draco. "Could you take me to my sisters? I want to see them so I can chew their heads off."  
  
Draco laughed. "Right this way." He gestured in front of him and Galleria followed. "They obviously prefer quality over red-haired, scar-headed quantity."  
  
Galleria was so relieved at a mention of her sisters where-abouts that she didn't even notice Draco's last comment. While she didn't exactly get along with Lanai, she'd never been this far away from her parents before without her sisters right by her side. At Nouveau Monde their parents uprooted and moved into a cabin nat far from the school so that the girls wouldn't get so homesick. Now it was completely different. She latched onto Draco's arm and began pulling him in the directionof the next car, Ron already being partway forgotten.  
  
Ron stared after them with disbelief. "Well, that was a waste." He turned around and walked into his compartment where Hermione was immersed into a book and Harry was flipping through "Quidditch Through the Ages." Ron let out a heavy sigh, causing Harry to look up from his book.  
  
"Long line?"  
  
Ron shook his head. "No." He sat down next to Harry and threw his head back onto the seat. "You know that girl that came up to me outside the compartment and asked where the loo was?" When Harry nodded, Ron continued. "Well I saw her standing outside talking to the restroom door. She was calling out her sister's names and I approached her. I found out her name and that she was from America. Well, she asked me to help her look for her sister's and I told her that I would. Well, when we got to the compartment next to ours, Malfoy came out of nowhere and completely captured her attention. He told her that her sister's were in his compartment and she went with him. And you won't believe this."  
  
"What?" Harry pressed.  
  
"They were flirting!" Ron exclaimed. "And she enjoyed his attention! She called him 'Draco.' I'm telling you, it was disgusting."  
  
Hermione looked up from her book. "Well if she was interested in Malfoy, then she mustn't be worth your time."  
  
Ron looked at Hermione like she was some sort of Bogart. "But she was perfect! She's so pretty and really nice; it's just." He trailed off. "She's more interested in Malfoy than in me."  
  
"Oh Ron, cheer up." Harry said, sitting down "Quidditch Through the Ages." "Hermione's right. If she's hanging all over Malfoy, and is hanging out with him and his crew, than she isn't worth your time."  
  
At that, Hermione gave an 'I told you so' snort and went back to her book. When Hermione was immersed in her book, and Ron and Harry were busy playing a game of exploding snap, Harry asked Ron about the girl again. "Is she all that pretty?" Ron repeated. "She's beautiful, but I couldn't have her if I looked like Malfoy anyhow. Now," he said. "Let's get back to our game, shall we?"  
  
Not wanting to argue, Harry complied.  
  
***************  
  
Draco's Compartment  
  
Galleria sat beside her sisters and stared at the other people in the compartment. Pansy, who reminded Galleria of a pug, was in a heated argument with Millicent Bullstrode and Yolanda Chip about Galleria. Draco was sitting opposite of Pansy, telling Crabbe and Goyle about the look on Ron's face when he seen him. All everyone had done was talk about other people since they had gotten there. Galleria felt very out of place, and she could tell Parrish did too. Lanai, however, looked like she was enjoying herself. She laughed and even joined in the conversation quite a few times. Clearing her throat, she stood up and walked over to the door. She motioned for Parrish to do the same. Everyone was so caught up in what they were doing, that they didn't notice Galleria and Parrish slip out. Well, almost everyone.  
  
**************  
  
Draco watched Galleria and her younger sister (What was her name again?) leave the compartment. He could tell that they were bored since they sat down. Now Lanai, she's going to be one of us.  
  
Pansy stood from her seat in between Millicent and Yolanda and sat down in Crabbe's recently abandoned seat next to Draco. "Draco?"  
  
He looked at her with dull, uninterested gray eyes. His left eyebrow raised itself up, indicating that Pansy should keep on saying what she was about to say. "Draco I- I was wondering why you brought that one girl in here; we had one little prat in here already that isn't worthy of being in our presence."  
  
"Pansy?" Draco drawled out.  
  
"Yes?" Pansy said, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. Well, trying to at least.  
  
"Get your hand off of my thigh." Draco said, watching her hand creep slowly up his left leg.  
  
Pansy pulled her hand back quickly and averted her gaze. Making a nervous sound, she stood up and went back over to sit with Millicent and Yolanda so Draco wouldn't see her burning red cheeks. But even in the dim light and across the compartment, it was hard to miss.  
  
**************  
  
"Ohh, my head." Ron moaned, holding the cold juice box Galleria had offered him up to his head.  
  
"Let me see," Galleria said softly, kneeling in front of Ron. He removed the juice box to reveal a large, purpling bruise on the left side of his forehead. She pressed her thumb to it lightly, and Ron winced. "It's fine. Just make sure to stay out of the way of flying objects next time."  
  
She stood up, offering Ron a hand.  
  
"Well, it wasn't my fault," Ron muttered, brushing himself off. "All I did was step outside the compartment door."  
  
Harry, who was standing off to the side, noticed that Ron left out the fact that he was going to check and see if Galleria was back from Malfoy's compartment so that he could talk to her. He looked at Hermione who just shrugged. "Talk to him," she mouthed.  
  
Harry nodded. "Er, Ron, could I talk to you for a moment?"  
  
Ron followed Harry into the compartment; all the while throwing backward looks at Galleria. Turning, he faced Harry.  
  
"Ron, what happened out there?"  
  
"What do you mean, 'What happened out there?'" Ron said, giving Harry a look.  
  
"I mean," Harry started. "What did you get hit with?"  
  
"Oh," Ron huffed. "That. I went out there to see if Galleria was back. That much you know." When Harry nodded, Ron continued. "And I turned to go to her compartment, when a ball hit me in the side of my head and knocked me down."  
  
"How big was the ball?" Harry questioned.  
  
"About the size of a bludger," Ron said, rubbing the side of his head at the memory.  
  
"Ouch."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Ron," Harry started again. "Why do you seem so bound and determined to get to know this girl?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "I dunno." He sat down. "You know how sometimes you're just compelled to get to know someone and you have no idea why?"  
  
Harry nodded. He had felt the same way about Cho Chang.  
  
"Well," Ron continued. "That's what it is. There's just something about her that reaches out and grabs me by the gut. No, it's nothing like it was with Fleur, " Ron added, seeing the look on Harry's face. "It's different. This time it's not the veela in her. In fact, I don't even think she's veela at all. I dunno. Am I mad?"  
  
Harry laughed. "No Ron. You're just human is all."  
  
Ron breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. For a second there I was beginning to think I was something else."  
  
There was a knock on the compartment door. It was Galleria. "Could I talk to Ron for a moment?" She asked Harry.  
  
Harry nodded. On his way out of the compartment, he turned to Ron and said, "Let me know if you need anything, understand?"  
  
Ron nodded. "Will do."  
  
Once the compartment door was closed, Galleria turned to Ron. "Look," she said. "I'm sorry about what happened out there." She threw a quick glance at the bruise on Ron's forehead. "Parrish wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, and she feels really bad for hitting you with that ball."  
  
Ron shrugged. "Hey, it happened. It's no big deal. I've been hit by worse." He said, remembering the curse he aimed at Malfoy back in their second year. It had taken him a couple of hours to cough up all of the slugs. The thought of it made Ron shudder. "Tell Parrish I said it was fine and that she shouldn't worry about it."  
  
"Alright," Galleria said, turning to leave. She stopped at the door and turned to look at Ron over her shoulder. "What house are you in?"  
  
"Gryffindor," he said after a moment or two. "Why?"  
  
Now it was Galleria's turn to shrug. "Just wondering."  
  
**************  
  
Galleria's Compartment  
  
"Well, how did it go?" Parrish asked interestedly when Galleria strolled into the compartment.  
  
"He says that everything is fine and that you needn't worry about it." Galleria said, dropping down across from Parrish.  
  
"Oh good," said Kelsey in relief. "I would feel even worse than I already do at the moment if he had been seriously hurt."  
  
"Parrish," Galleria said, yawning. "When we get to Hogwarts, what house do you expect the Sorting Hat will put you in?"  
  
Parrish lifted her right shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "I dunno. I suppose I don't know enough about the school and it's different houses to tell." She tilted her head to the side and looked at Galleria. "Why?"  
  
Galleria shook her head and stretched out on her side. "I was just curious; that's all it was." She rolled flat onto her back. "I think I want to be in Gryffindor."  
  
"Why?" Parrish asked curiously.  
  
"Because," Galleria said. "I've met so many friendly people, most of which have been in Gryffindor. That's the kind of people I want to be surrounded by at school."  
  
"People like Ron, or people like Draco?" Parrish questioned.  
  
"I can't imagine that Draco is in Gryffindor." Parrish said. "But I do know Ron, Harry, and Hermione are. They're the kind of people I was talking about."  
  
I think I know why. Parrish thought to herself. 


	5. Author's Note

I've been redoing a few chapters, so if you've been reading the older versions, I'd suggest to go back and reread a couple chapters...some things have changed. 


	6. The Sorting

Outside of Hogwarts  
  
"Firs' years, right this way!" Hagrid shouted over the dull roar of chattering being emitted from the students. As Galleria, Parrish, and Lanai got off of the train, Hagrid again shouted, "Firs' years, follow me!"  
  
Galleria, Parrish, and Lanai looked at each other. In the letters they had gotten with their supplies on it, they said to go with the first years into the castle. Shrugging, they walked over to the crowd of first years gathered in front of a rather large man with a long, shaggy mane of hair, a wild, tangled bear, and warm, crinkled beetle black eyes.  
  
Hagrid looked at them for a minute, befuddled. "Wait a minute. Yer not firs' years, are yeh?"  
  
Galleria shook her head, speaking up for her sisters and herself. "No, we aren't, but we were told by a Professor McGonogall to enter the school with the first years."  
  
"Now why would Profess--oy! That's right!" His face lit up with recognition. "Yeh must be Galleria, Lanai, and Parrish." He pointed to each girl in turn, and recieved a nod and a smile from Galleria and Parrish, but barely a nod in return from Lanai. She already appeared to have a disliking for Hagrid. Looking a bit miffed, Hagrid returned his attention back to the other first years. "Right, as I was sayin', follow me this way."  
  
Galleria noticed Lanai studying Hagrid intently. Muttering something about giants being allowed on school grounds, Lanai reluctantly followed the group of kids that were already heading down the long, narrow path. After a few minutes, they turned around a bend and were now standing on the edge of a great black lake. But what had captured everyone's attention was a vast castle perched on top of a high mountainside with many turrets and towers.  
  
"Damn," breathed Galleria, staring a the castle.  
  
"Four to a boat!" Hagrid called.  
  
Galleria, Parrish, and Lanai ended up sharing a boat with a small girl who had flaming red hair(which reminded Galleria strongly of Ron's) and icy blue eyes. She was clearly excited about finally being old enough to attend Hogwarts.  
  
"It's one of the best school's of magic around, you know," she said happily.  
  
"So we've heard," Lanai muttered.  
  
The girl, who they learned had an annoying habit to chat non-stop, looked at them as though they had materialized out of nowhere. "You three ought to be in with the other years, oughtn't you?"  
  
Lanai shook her head, clearly annoyed with the girl's sudden interest in their correct whereabouts. "We were instructed by Professor McGonogall to come with the first years."  
  
The girl's eyes widened, impressed. "Ooooh, so you're in Gryffindor, then?"  
  
Lanai looked like she wanted to hex the girl simply for annoying her. Parrish cleared her throat, ready to make peace. "No, we're new here as well." At this, the girl opened her mouth to speak again, but Parrish headed off her inevitable question. "No, we are not first years; we're exchange students. From America."  
  
That seemed to strike the girl as odd; for she didn't say anything. What striked her as even odder, however, was Parrish's name. "Where did your Mum and Dad come up with the idea for your name? It's so odd. We don't have many Parrish's around here." Clearly unnaware of the look on Parrish's face, she continued. "My parents," here she lifted herself up proudly, as is there was some great importance in what she was about to say, "named me after a nymph in Greek mythology."  
  
She looked around the boat, apparently pleased with her revelation. She had neglected to mention, however, what her name actually was. She looked as though she was expecting them to "oooh!" and "aaah!" over the history of her name.  
  
Galleria allowed herself a mild "mmm...." and managed to say, "fascinating," loudly enough so that the girl heard her.  
  
The girl smiled, obviously pleased with herself, and went back to chatting animatedly with no one in particular until the boats reached the other side of the lake. When it bumped against the shore, Lanai jumped out of the boat quickly, clearly not being able to be rid of the girl. She was closely followed by Galleria and Parrish.  
  
The first years and other newcomers followed Hagrid up to the great oak door. Hagrid looked at them all for a second, apparently trying to see if they were all there, and knocked.  
  
The door swung open at once. It was almost as if this tall, black-haired lady who stood there, had been waiting for them by the door. Hagrid and the woman exchanged a few words, of which Galleria couldn't hear because she was in the very back of the crowd of first years. Whatever had been said had gained them access to the school, because the black-haired lady opened the door wide to allow the students into the school.  
  
The students filed in and followed the lady, whom everyone presumed to be Professor McGonogal, across the stone floor. They could all hear the sound of hundreds of voices emitting from a doorway to the right, but Professor McGonogall ushered the first years into a small, empty room off of the hall.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," began Professor McGonogall.  
  
The Great Hall  
  
Ron sat on one side of Harry, while Nearly Headless Nick sat on the other. Harry and Hermione were busy discussing Hagrid's mission for Dumbledore that he had gone on over the summer holiday's. ("What d'you reckon it was?" Harry asked. Hermione inclined her head thoughtfully.) But Ron wasn't joining in on the conversation, nor was he listening. He was too busy craning his neck around and above student's heads to see if he could see Galleria.  
  
She was nowhere to be seen.  
  
At the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy was doing the exact same thing as Ron. Although, he was making is much less obvious, as opposed to Ron, who was attracting stares from members of the Gryffindor table.  
  
Nearly every head in the Great Hall turned when Professor McGonogall came marching in, a line of first years trotting behind her. What most people seemed to notice most, however, was that there were three girls who were clearly not in the first year walking behind the line of first years, up through the Great Hall towards the Sorting Hat.  
  
Murmurs arose amoung the students. It was clear that many people were wondering what the girls were doing amoung the first years.  
  
"Who are they? Have you seen them before?" Lavender Brown asked Pavarati Patil.  
  
"No..." Came the response from Pavarati.  
  
"They're exchange students," piped in Mayalyn Roman a few seats away from Pavarati and Lavender, "from America."  
  
That seemed to shut everyone at the Gryffindor table up; they all returned their attention to the sorting. The Sorting Hat had already finished it's song and was now busy placing, "Wilkes, Lorelei," into Slytherin.  
  
Galleria stood beside her sisters nervously. She looked around at the other first years, relieved when she saw that nearly everybody was just as nervous or more so than she was.  
  
"Dreddarria, Echo!"  
  
The small red-headed girl with whom Galleria and her sisters had shared a boat with scuttled forward and placed the hat on her head.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The table on the far left exploded in cheers, as Echo was the first new Gryffindor.  
  
"Gregory, Melina!"  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
The table on the right cheered loudly as Melina sat down at their table.  
  
At long last it was the three Summers girl's turn to be sorted.  
  
"Summers, Galleria!"  
  
Galleria took a deep breath, sat on the stool, and placed the Sorting Hat on her head. For a long while, at least it seemed like it to Galleria, the Sorting Hat was quiet. Then-  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat, and a relieved-looking Galleria hurried over to the Gryffindor table amid cheers and claps.  
  
"Summers, Parrish!"  
  
With the same nervous look Galleria had on her face just a minute before, Parrish sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head.  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!" it shouted.  
  
Galleria sat at the Gryffindor table inbetween a boy who had introduced himself as Neville Longbottom, and Hermione Granger. Her eyes lingered on her sister, who was now happily making her way over to the Hufflepuff table, and thought, How could we have gotten put into seperate houses? When Lanai's name was called, a glimmer of hope reappeared in Galleria's head. Even if it was Lanai, at least she wouldn't be alone in a house full of people she barely knew.  
  
Lanai appeared, not nervous at all like Galleria and Parrish had been, but calm and confident, almost arrogant. She sat down, and after but a second on her head-  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
That does it, Galleria thought. I'm going to talk to that Professor McGonogall and see exactly what would happen if I wanted to switch houses.  
  
She thought as much, and said so to Hermione Granger. Confused, Hermione asked, "Why would you want to switch houses? I don't think they'll let you do that."  
  
"Because," Galleria said loftily. "I want to be with one of my sisters."  
  
Ron stared at Galleria, a perplexed look on his face. "Whatever you do," he said to her, "don't ask to be moved into Slytherin."  
  
Galleria nodded. As she gazed over at the Slytherin table, and then over at the Hufflepuff table, she somehow knew she could take Ron's word on that bit of advice. 


	7. Planning

The sorting and the start of the term feast were both over. Now that everyone's stomach's were full of delicious food, it was time to head up to the seperate house dormitories. Standing up, reluctant to leave the table, Hermione and Ron started ushering the new Gryffindor first years into a line.  
  
"Why are they doing that?" Galleria asked Harry curiously, watching Ron trying not to get frustrated at a stubborn first year.  
  
"Because they're the new Gryffindor prefects. They have to show the first years where the Gryffindor common room and dormitories are." Harry said, laughing at how frustrated Ron was trying not to get. "Come on, I'll show you to the Gryffindor common room. I got the password off of Ron."  
  
Blinking eagerly, Galleria followed Harry out of the Great Hall. He led her up several flights of stairs, and through quite a few passages that were hidden behind large tapestries. Galleria's head was spinning. 'How on earth am I going to remember how to get here?'  
  
After what seemed like ages, Harry finally stopped in front of a portrait. The portrait was of a rather large woman in a pink silk dress.  
  
"Password?" The woman inquired after them.  
  
"Metromead." Harry said while yawning.  
  
The Fat Lady swung forward on her hinges to reveal a round hole in the wall. Without so much as a glance at Galleria, Harry climbed through the portait hole. Looking around the corridor and seeing that no one was there helped Galleria make up her mind. She scrambled through the portrait hole like Harry had done moments before.  
  
Galleria fell onto the floor. Standing up and brushing herself off, she looked around. The Gryffindor common room was a large circular room filled with squashy armchairs and overstuffed couches. A few people still milled around, getting caught up on what had happened over the summer holiday's. A couple of second years were sitting by the roaring fire and playing a game of exploding snap. 'This is nice,' she thought. 'I wonder if the Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms are as nice.' Galleria noticed that a few people were fixing Harry with peculiar stares, and that most everybody else was trying to occupy themselves with something else so that they didn't stare.  
  
Walking over to stand next to Harry, Galleria studied him. He seemed unperturbed by all of the strange stares he was receiving, although he did seem to be holding his head up in a proud sort of way. "Harry," she said quietly. "Do y'think that you could maybe tell me how to get to the girls dormitory? I'm really tired."  
  
Somewhat startled, Harry looked over at her. He looked surprised to see her standing there. "Yeah, sure." He pointed to the far side of the common room where there stood two staircases. "Just take the stairs on the right and keep going up until you reach the door that says '5th Year'-you are a fifth year, aren't you?"  
  
Galleria nodded sleepily. "Unfortunately." She started walking towards the staircase Harry had pointed out to her. "G'night Harry!"  
  
"G'night!" Harry called after her.  
  
************  
  
A few minutes later, Galleria reached the door with the '5th Year' sign on the door. She reached for the handle and pushed it open. It was a circular room with six four poster beds hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Too her surprise, her trunk had already been brought up and was waiting for her at the foot of one of the four poster beds. A girl was already sitting on one of the beds, fiddling with some sort of gadget that Galleria didn't recognize. The girl didn't look up as Galleria plopped, fully clothed, into bed, yanking the curtains closed.  
  
She lie awake for a long time, thinking over everything that had happened during the day. She had finally reached the school she was dreading coming to, and it wasn't what she had expected. The people were actually nice and as far as she could tell, they liked her. A girl by the name of Lavender Brown seemed fascinated with the fact that Galleria and her sisters were from America, and kept asking her questions about the country she grew up in. Ron kept telling Lavender to stop badgering Galleria, but Galleria was more than happy to answer Lavender's questions.  
  
The classes would be the true test; they started in the morning. So far everything-the food, the people, the school itself, the ghosts-were wonderful, but the classes would be the deciding factor on her opinion. Yawning, she rolled onto her stomach and drifted off to sleep. The morning would have to wait.  
  
**************  
  
Meanwhile  
  
In a dark, damp room two wizards and a witch stood waiting for orders. They had been discussing amongst themselves what they wished to do and when, but their master had other ideas.  
  
"What do you say?" Said one wizard in a soft, greasy male voice.  
  
"Can I go to them, my Lord?" Said the witch with an eager purr in her voice.  
  
"No, not just yet, Emmie." A high, cold voice said from a chair in the shadows over on the far side of the room.  
  
"When then, my Lord?" Said the second wizard. "They've reached the school as planned, and-"  
  
"And Dumbledore will be watching them like a hawk. He'll have them under the utmost security like he has Potter." Said the voice from the chair. "No, Lucius, we must wait. During the Christmas holiday's."  
  
Murmuring their agreement, the two wizards and the witch turned and swept from the room. 


	8. The Prophecy

The next morning Galleria, Parrish, and Lanai woke up in their seperate houses on opposite sides of the castle. As this was the farthest the the girls have ever been away from each other, this morning felt partiularly odd to the three of them. Although, Lanai couldn't help but relish in her new-found freedom. Stretching and yawning, the girls made their way down to their respective common rooms.  
  
"Morning," Galleria yawned, dropping down into a chair across from Harry and Ron. "What are you guys doing? I would have thought you would already be in the Great Hall."  
  
"We're waiting for Hermione," Harry said. "She said she wanted to talk to us about something."  
  
"So," Ron said, looking at Galleria, "are you going to talk to McGonogall about switching houses?"  
  
Galleria shrugged. "I don't think so. I mean I want to be near my sisters, but this could be good for us, y'know? We've never been this far apart from each other before while being so close."  
  
Harry and Ron looked at each other, blinking. Galleria, not noticing their confusion, continued with her little talk. "The farthest we've ever been apart is when Lanai was allowed to go to a friends house next door." At the look on Ron's face, Galleria explained. "See, my mom is really very protective of us girls. Since Alastor died in that fire, family has became number one. We put nothing before family. So, it came as a real shock to us when Mum decided that Lanai could go to Terri's house."  
  
Ron and Harry had no clue who Alastor was and what fire Galleria was talking about, but they didn't question her about it. She gave them the impression that it was a rather touchy subject. "So the whole thing about you being in seperate houses-"  
  
"Is a big thing for us," Galleria finished. "That's why I said we've never been so far apart while being so close. We need time apart from each other to establish our own independence."  
  
"So, you aren't going to talk to McGonogall?" Ron asked hopefully.  
  
Galleria shook her head. "No."  
  
Hermione came running down into the common room at that moment with a look of excitement that Harry and Ron had only seen on her face once. "Ron, Harry, you've got to see this!"  
  
When she said that Harry, Ron, and Galleria noticed a thick book clutched tightly in her left hand. "See what, Hermione?" Harry asked.  
  
"This," she said breathlessly. She was just about ready to open the book and show them whatever it was that she was so excited about when she noticed Galleria sitting opposite Harry and Ron. "But," she said quickly, "It'll have to wait. Now come on or we'll have to go to McGonogall's office for our course schedules."  
  
Without bothering to wait for the boys, Hermione turned and hurried from the common room. Exchanging looks, Harry and Ron stood. "What was that about?" Ron asked Galleria.  
  
Galleria shrugged. "Search me. She's been acting strange ever since last night."  
  
"What happened last night?" Ron asked with a curious look on his face.  
  
"Well," began Galleria, "I'm not exactly sure. I woke late into the night from this really odd dream and couldn't get back to sleep. I heard Hermione muttering something about how she hadn't read nearly as much as she needed("Figures," Ron said with a meaningful look at Harry.) and got up to see if she needed any help. When I opened the hangings on the bed, I seen Hermione poring over a large book, must have been about 3,500 pages. I asked her if she was okay and she answered in this high-pitched voice, saying that everything was fine and for me to go back to bed."  
  
"Oh, that's nothing to worry about," Harry said in a relieved voice. "Hermione was probably just trying to learn a new spell or something. She doesn't like to be interrupted when she's studying."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Yeah," Ron agreed with Harry. "Now lets go down to breakfast. I'm starved."  
  
********  
  
The Great Hall  
  
"So Hermione are you going to tell us what you were so excited about earlier?" Ron asked conversationally.  
  
"I told you," Hermione said with an obvious look at Galleria. "It will have to wait until later."  
  
Ron looked at Galleria who just continued eating her breakfast. "Is it something really important then?" Ron pressed on.  
  
Hermione didn't say anything; she just shoved another forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth. Shrugging it off, Ron tore a bluberry muffin in half and started to eat it. Harry looked between Hermione, Ron, and Galleria and cleared his throat. "When d'you think Professor McGonogall is going to hand out our course schedules?"  
  
Hermione swallowed a sip of her pumpkin juice and held up a piece of parchment, waving it in Harry's face. "She handed them out a moment before you got here."  
  
"You mean we have to walk all the way up to McGonogall's office?" Ron said incredulously.  
  
"Well you wouldn't have to if you had gotten here sooner, now would you?" Hermione sniffed. "You'd better hurry too or you'll be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts."  
  
"That's right!" Ron said excitedly on their way up the stairs that led to Professor McGonogall's office. "We'll be getting a new teacher. I wonder who it's going to be this year? Whoever it is, they're going to have their job cut out for him."  
  
"Or her." Galleria put in.  
  
"Or her." Ron added hastily.  
  
"Well whoever it is, I just hope he or she sticks around for more than just this year," Harry said while hopping over the sinking step.  
  
"Yeah," Ron said, "We haven't had a permanent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher since we've been here."  
  
"Not in all five years?" Galleria asked curiously.  
  
"A different teacher every year." Ron nodded.  
  
"Really?" Galleria said, intrigued. "Why is that?"  
  
"It's cursed," Ron said grimly. "You see, everytime someone new gets the job-"  
  
"Oh look, we've reached McGonogall's office," Harry said quickly.  
  
"I don't think she's back from breakfast yet," Galleria said. "When we left, she was talking to Professor Dumbledore about something."  
  
"So you've already met Dumbledore then?" Ron asked, leaning up against the wall next to Professor McGonogall's office door.  
  
Galleria nodded. "Of course. Mom, Dad, Lanai, Parrish, and I had to meet with him in person before he would even consider taking us into the school. He's really a very fair man," she added. "He knows what he's doing too. He wouldn't think of turning us down. See, Mom went to school here as well back when she was our age. But Mom, being the insistant person she is, absolutely refused to send us off to school without speaking to Professor Dumbledore."  
  
"Well Dumbledore-" Ron began, but was cut off by Professor McGonogall's return.  
  
"Mr. Weasley what on earth are you doing here? You were supposed to be in class five minutes ago." She looked around to see Harry and Galleria standing there also. "And you two! Mr. Potter, Ms. Summers, what is going on here?"  
  
"Well you see, Professor, the three of us," here he gestured to Galleria who was busy counting the cracks in the wall, and then to Ron who was staring out the window at the end of the hall, "didn't get to the Great Hall in time to get our schedules, and we were wondering if you could maybe- "  
  
"Bring you your schedules, perhaps?" Professor McGonogall finished.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
Professor McGonogall turned, swept into her office, and returned a few seconds later with three pieces of parchment clasped in her hand. She held them out to Harry, but held them out of his reach when he went to grab it. "Perhaps next time you'll learn to be on time, Mr. Potter?"  
  
Harry nodded again. "Oh yes, Professor. I most certainly will."  
  
Eying him shrewdly, Professor McGonogall handed him the schedules and with a look at Galleria and Ron, headed off to her first class of the day.  
  
**********  
  
Later on That Day  
  
"I wonder why Hermione's having us meet her in the library?" Ron said as he and Harry made their way down to the school library.  
  
"It's probably about what she was going to tell us earlier, but stopped when she seen Galleria," Harry said. "I mean, you seen how she looks at Galleria. It's not exactly a secret that Hermione doesn't care for her."  
  
When they entered the library, Hermione waved them over from a table by the Restricted Section. "Harry, Ron, over here!"  
  
Madam Pince scowled, but didn't say anything.  
  
When Harry and Ron had sat down, Hermione immediately launched an explanation on why she was being so secretive and hostile towards Galleria. "It started at the feast yesterday," she started, "when Galleria went to grab a wizard cracker, I noticed something on her hand."  
  
"You noticed something on her hand?" Ron asked. "What was it, a speck of dirt?"  
  
Hermione shot Ron a dirty look. "A star with an arrow through it. At least that's what it looked like anyhow."  
  
"So?" Ron said. "It could be a birth mark, couldn't it be?"  
  
Hermione shook her head. "It's something far more than that..." 


	9. The New DADA Professor

"No way!" Ron gasped, staring at Hermione in shock. "Does it really say that?"  
  
Hermione nodded, a stark serious look on her face. "It says so right here in the fifth paragraph." She cleared her throat and began to read aloud. "On the sixth day of the fourth month a child shall be born to parents who have close ties with a very powerful wizard and who have seen the world."  
  
For the past half an hour Harry and Ron had been sitting in the library listening to Hermione explain to them in a hushed voice about why she was being so openly hostile towards Galleria.  
  
"So," Harry said, "whatever you're telling us has to do with Voldemort?"  
  
Hermione and Ron both flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but Hermione nodded just the same. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say." She paused for a second and flipped a page in the book that was in front of her. "The child shall have a mark somewhere on his or her body that resembles an arrow fused through a star." She slammed the book shut. "That's exactly the mark Galleria has on her hand!"  
  
Harry and Ron looked at each other skeptically. "Hermione," Ron began slowly, "I don't mean to come across as a skeptic, but you read that from a book right?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "So?"  
  
Ron hesitated for a moment so Harry took over. "What Ron's trying to say, Hermione, is that books can be misleading and that you shouldn't believe everything you read."  
  
Ron nodded. "Remember Lockhart?"  
  
Hermione shrugged. "Yes, but this is the real thing." She showed them the name on the front of the book. "Aure Leiasau was a real seer."  
  
"I read about her once!" Ron said, as if a light-bulb turned on in his head. "She lived back in the same time period as Nicolas Flamel."  
  
"Do you remember what she was famous for?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Hang on." Ron pushed his mind to remember. "Yeah, something about the downfall of some dark wizard."  
  
Hermione let out what could be considered as a shocked hiss. "That's right. Leiasau predicted the downfall of Lord Gewiston, a dark wizard almost as powerful as You-Know-Who was." She paused to let that information sink into their heads. "Gewiston was the wizard You-Know-Who fashioned himself after."  
  
"But Voldemort prided himself on being the most powerful wizard there ever was," Harry said with an almost confused look on his face.  
  
"And he was," Hermione said. "Gewiston didn't have half the power he had, but he was the most powerful dark wizard of his time."  
  
"But why," Harry said, "Was she so famous for predicting this Gewiston fellow's downfall?"  
  
Hermione smiled. "Now this is where it starts to get interesting." She launched into an explanation of Aure Leiasau's life. "You see, Leiasau's mother, Aretina Leiasau, fell in love with Gewiston and had an affair with him. Aure was the result of the brief affair. Gewiston ended it with Aretina as soon as he found out that she was pregnant. Aretina died when Aure was only four years old and left Aure to live with her Grandmother.  
  
"When she was eight years old, Aure saw the death of her father in a dream. By the time she was seventeen she had killed her father."  
  
"How?" Ron asked.  
  
Hermione inclined her head. "Nobody really knows. He just kind of disappeared one day and Leiasau was found at the scene he disappeared from, unconcious. Nobody ever heard from Gewiston again."  
  
"What's the point of the whole story?" Harry asked while shivering from the cool draft wafting in through the windows.  
  
"The point is that Leiasau had the same mark on the back of her neck that Galleria has on her hand." Hermione said importantly. "Galleria was born on the sixth day of the fourth month, and so was Leiasau."  
  
Harry and Ron stared back at Hermione blankly.  
  
Hermione sighed. "Leiasau destroyed her father who just so happened to be an evil wizard; Galleria could be key in destroying You-Know-Who."  
  
********  
  
The Following Day, Defense Against the Dark Arts Class  
  
"Now class, I would like for you all to begin on tonight's homework: a three foot essay on the downfall of some well-known dark creature or being." Professor White, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher said while looking around at the fifth year students. "There are plenty of resources here in the classroom." She gestured around the room at the rows of books lined up along the wall behind her desk. "And I'll be here also, if you need any extra help."  
  
Harry and Ron looked at each other, wide-eyed. None of their previous teachers had given them any time in class to work on their homework before.  
  
"I hope she doesn't expect us to have this finished by our next lesson," Ron said, pulling out his quill and getting started on his essay.  
  
Professor White was a tall, slender woman with long, raven black hair that she kept tied at the nape of her neck with a blue satin ribbon. Her large eyes were dark and fathomless. She too had the commanding pressence of Professor Snape. Although she wasn't cruel and she didn't favor her students(she was also the new head of Ravenclaw) more than the other students. She reminded Galleria of a little bit of Professor Snape and Professor McGonogall in one, with a touch of her own perpetual cheeriness that was slightly on the morbid side.  
  
"She's interesting, eh?" Said a Ravenclaw boy from behind Galleria and Mayalyn Roman.(They now had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws.) "Never seen someone quite like her so far."  
  
"I think she's somewhat like Snape and McGonogall mashed together," Galleria said, studying Professor White with interest.  
  
The boy, Weston Greene, and Mayalyn looked at Galleria horrified. They probably thought she was off her rocker.  
  
Three tables over Hermione was busy not doing her essay, but was studying Galleria intently. 'I wonder,' she thought. 'Is she really capable of helping in the defeat of You-Know-Who?' She shook her head. Only time would tell.  
  
*********  
  
Back in London  
  
Mrs. Summers paced the length of her semi-spacious living room worriedly. Her husband sat on the couch reading the Daily Prophet and humming "Mary Had a Little Lamb" lazily to himself. Mrs. Summers stopped her pacing suddenly and noisily, startling Mr. Summers. "I can't stand this! With him on the loose and the girls being so far away; him and his goons could attack them at any moment and we wouldn't be able to stop them."  
  
Mr. Summers sat down his newspaper and turned to face his wife. "Tammy, everything will be fine. Albus is doing everything he can to protect them and that Potter boy from being harmed. As long as they remain at school they will be just fine."  
  
Mrs. Summers shot her husband a disbelieving look. "They're my babies! Paul, if anything happens to them I'll just die."  
  
Mr. Summers stood up, trying to comfort his wife. "It's alright, dear. If it makes you feel any better, we'll visit the school tomorrow and see how they're doing. How does that sound?"  
  
"Oh, Paul," Mrs. Summers said, pulling back a little ways from her husband to look into his eyes. "Could we? It would make me feel so much better about them being gone."  
  
"We'll go first thing in the morning." 


	10. One Important Player

Later on that night while Galleria was off playing exploding snap with Lavender and Mayalyn, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in one of the dark corners of the Gryffindor common room discussing what they had started earlier. Harry and Ron were stunned. Galleria, the tiny little witch from America, couldn't be key in fighting the battles they faced with Voldemort. She just couldn't be. For one thing, she probably hadn't ever heard of him, being from where she was; and for another thing, she was so tiny that one well-cast hex could finish her off.  
  
"If Leiasau had that mark on the back of her neck, and she was a seer..." Ron began uncertainly, "then that must mean that Galleria is a seer, too!"  
  
Hermione gave Ron a sharp look. "Not nessacarily," she said while trying to stifle a yawn. "She could have gotten that mark by chance, but than likely, she didn't. Someone had to have put it there. Either that or she was born with it. And if she was, then she is definately someone we want to have on our side."  
  
"But who?" Ron and Harry asked simultaneously.  
  
She held up her hand and yawned again while Harry and Ron impatiently waited for her to continue. The seconds dragged by into a minute, and the minute dragged into two. "It had to have been put there by someone very close to her or her parents," she said at last. "Maybe her parents even had a part in it. But I do know this, anyone who bears that mark has the makings of a great seer. Possibly the greatest this world has yet to see."  
  
Harry and Ron stared at her. It was plain what they were thinking, but Ron spoke up before Harry could form the words. "Your joking, right?"  
  
Hermione pursed her lips. She hated being second guessed, and it didn't help any that she now had to share her best friends with a girl she disliked highly. "Honestly, Ron. Can't anyone tell you anything without you second guessing them all the time?" She shook her head. "I can't say exactly how I know, but I can say one thing. Only three people have born that mark since the *Breaking of the World(A/N..I know this is a Harry Potter fic, but I just couldn't resist adding in something from the Wheel of Time.), and Aure Leiasau was one of them. Only those who can Fortell as far into the future as five hundred years, and whose magical powers rival those of the greatest wizard or witch alive, can bear that mark."  
  
*************  
  
Galleria screamed as the cards in front of her exploded. No matter how many times she had played Exploding Snap in the past hour and a half she couldn't get used to the noise they made, or the sugary-sweet smell of the smoke as it cleared and the cards reappeared. Mayalyn had gone up to their dormitory about a half an hour ago, leaving Lavender and Galleria to talk and giggle amoungst themselves.  
  
In the past thirty minutes Galleria learned just how annoying Lavender could be. What with all her talk of make-up and jewelry and such. Those just happened to be two of Lavender's favourite subjects(that and boys), and two of Galleria's least. But, other than that they were getting along just fine. Galleria rather liked Lavender. It was partly because she reminded her of her younger sister, Parrish. It was also partly because it was nice to be around someone who didn't seem to be dancing on some unseen strings all the time. Everyone she knew acted like that, her parents more so than usual as of late. It unnerved her that they always seemed to know something that she didn't, and that they weren't willing to tell her what it was. She furrowed her brow as she thought of it.  
  
"Gal?" Lavender asked, hesitantly. She waved her hands in front of Galleria's face. "Gal?"  
  
Galleria snapped back to Earth with a thud. Jumping back a fraction of an inch from Lavender's hands, she shook her head to clear it of her thoughts. It worked, but barely. "Sorry Lavender, must have drifted off. What were you saying again?"  
  
"I was saying," Lavender said slowly, "that I think we should go up and get some sleep. We have Potions with the Slytherin's first lesson, and you'll definately need your rest to be able to handle the Slytherin's AND Professor Snape at the same time."  
  
Galleria nodded. She had heard Ron moaning about him at supper earlier. Apparently he had a strong disliking for anyone not in his house, which she had learned was Slytherin, but he absolutley hated Harry. And since Ron and Hermione were Harry's best friends, they got some unwanted attention from the sour Potions Master as well. He was constantly making snide remarks about Ron's family and something else that Ron wouldn't mention. Hermione kept silent about what Snape did to her. She said that she didn't think it was right that they sat there and talked about Professor Snape like that after all he had done for them in the past. "And especially you, Harry!" Hermione had said, shooting Harry a reproving look that made him drop his eyes to study his potatoes intently.  
  
She didn't know what it was, but she could tell that Hermione didn't particularly care for her. She kept shooting Galleria sidelong glares when she thought that she wasn't looking. But Galleria had noticed. Even when she wasn't looking, she could tell that Hermione was looking at her. How could she not? Hermione's eyes bore a whole into the side of her head, leaving a portion of it exposed for the girl to see. That's how it felt to Galleria, anyhow. That's how she always felt when people looked at her like Hermione does. Everytime she managed to catch Hermione's eye, she'd swear that she could see little gears turning at the back of her mind. Measuring and weighing. Measuring her wit and weighing her strength. Galleria shuddered as she followed Lavender up the spiral staircase leading to their dormitory. There was something about Hermione that unnerved her. Although she couldn't quite put her thumb on it, it was there. And it only grew as the days went by.  
  
***********  
  
Draco had been watching her since that first day on the train. At first it had been because she intrigued him, but then his Father's owl had reached him with the usual instructions on what he could and could not do that year. The directions were always the same. They told him to what extent he was allowed to show off his magical talent. But this year there was something extra along with the directions. They were directions, yes, but directions of a different type. He was to watch the three witches, Galleria more than the other two. Lanai wasn't much of a threat; a couple of well-placed bribes could bring her over to their side. She was close enough as it was without the bribes that they didn't think them nessacary. Parrish('So that's her name!' Draco thought.) wasn't worth much, but she was close to Galleria, and Galleria was the one they really wanted with them. If they had Parrish, they were more than likely going to get Galleria.  
  
Galleria, as it turned out, played a very important role in their little scheme indeed. In fact, if she wasn't caught and turned over to their way of thinking, Lord Voldemort could fall. He could fall with no hope of regaining his power. Draco shuddered to think of what his Father would do to him if that were to happen. What he came up with wasn't very pleasant. And if only for that reason alone, he had to manipulate Galleria into believing, into their plan. Into darkness. And that meant he had to go through her sisters. Since Galleria had joined the dream team, there was no way he could possibly get near her without having to go near Potter, Weasel and that filthy mudblood, Hermione Granger. He would start with Lanai.  
  
***********  
  
A/N. I hope you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. I've been writing this story for quite some time now, and I only just recently decided to post it.  
  
*Breaking of the World, the: During the Time of Madness(see Time of Madness), male Aes Sedai(see Aes Sedai) who had gone insane, and who could wield the One Power(the power that makes up the world, basically) to a degree now unknown, changed the face of the earth. They caused earthquakes, leveled old mountain ranges and raised new mountains, lifted dry land where seas had been and made the ocean rush in where dry land had been. Many parts of the world were completely depopulated, and the survivors were scattered like dust on the wind. this destruction is remembered in stories, legends, and history as the Breaking of the World.  
  
**Time of Madness: The years after the Dark one's(Shai'tan) counter-stroke tainted the male half of the True Source, when male Aes Sedai went mad and Broke the World. The exact duration of this time period is unknown, but it is believed to have lasted nearly one hundred years. It ended completely only with the death of the last male Aes Sedai.  
  
***Aes Sedai(EYEZ seh-DEYE): Wielders of the One Power. Since the Time of Madness, all survicing Aes Sedai are women.  
  
****Shai'tan(SHAY-it-TAN): The source of evil, antithesis of the Creator.  
  
I just figured telling y'all what the Breaking of the World was about would help you out, and I couldn't put that up there without some other definitions. The only reference to be made in this story to the Wheel of Time will be the Breaking of the World.  
  
Don't forget to review! No flames, though. 


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